Trump Organization Collaborates on Luxury Tower in Bucharest

BUCHAREST (Reuters) -The Trump Organization - U.S. President Donald Trump's family business - will team up with Romanian real estate developer SDC Imobiliare to build a tower block with luxury apartments in the capital Bucharest, the companies said.

"Trump Tower Bucharest will be developed in the heart of Romania's capital, one of Europe's most vibrant and dynamic emerging markets, bringing premium residences under the Trump brand to the region," the companies said in a statement.

They did not specify the location or start date for work on the tower block, which is being branded as luxury residential apartments in Romania, the region's second-biggest economy.

Romania's economy stalled in the first quarter amid a drawn-out political crisis and worries about a potential downturn, underperforming most of its peers in central and eastern Europe.

Romania, a European Union and NATO member state, has found itself at the centre of a dispute between Europe and the Trump administration over democratic principles after the constitutional court in December cancelled an ongoing presidential vote due to suspicions of Russian meddling, denied by Moscow.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance has said Romania's decision to cancel the election in which a far-right, pro-Russian candidate was the frontrunner based on what he called "flimsy evidence" meant Bucharest did not share American values.

The country re-ran its presidential ballot in May and centrist President Nicusor Dan won, with Trump later congratulating him on his victory.

(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Hugh Lawson)